Four Things to Know About the 2024 Solheim Cup

One of golf's great events is back in the United States.

It's Solheim Cup week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club just outside Washington, D.C., and the eyes of the golf world are fixated on a number of exciting storylines ahead of the biennial matches that pit the United States versus Europe.

Can Europe four-peat in retaining the Solheim Cup? Does an American squad featuring Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Lexi Thompson and Lilia Vu have enough firepower to win their first Cup since 2017? How will Robert Trent Jones play as a match play host? And who will emerge as the star of matches?

All that and more in the four things you need to know about the Solheim Cup.

Last year's Solheim Cup may have been one of the most thrilling golf events of the decade, with haymakers thrown by each team through the three days at stunning Finca Cortesin in southern Spain.

In the end, it was Europe that had just enough gas in the tank to retain the Solheim Cup, with Carlota Ciganda sinking the clinching putt to win her match 2&1 over Korda. That allowed them to get to the 14-point mark that was needed to hang onto the Solheim Cup, fighting off an American team that looked early on like they'd be bringing back the Cup to the United States, with a 4-0 Day 1 morning matches sweep.

Europe fought back session by session, with Ciganda going undefeated on her home soil and winning four points, while Ireland's Leona Maguire and Sweden's Linn Grant right behind her with three points each. While the Americans certainly had the star power, Europe had their trademark chemistry that buoyed them, ultimately allowing the squad to tie 14-14 with the U.S. and hold the Solheim Cup for the third straight time.

Most of the 2023 European Team is also back for the 2024 edition: Ciganda, Maguire, Grant, Charley Hull, Madelene Sagstrom, Celine Boutier, Maja Stark, Georgia Hall, Emily Kristine Pedersen, playing Vice Captain Anna Nordqvist and Captain Suzanne Pettersen all return at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Rookies Albane Vlenzuela and Esther Henseleit will join a crew with a wealth of experience — European legend Laura Davies, Cup stalwart Mel Reid and steady Caroline Martens are the Vice Captains for the 2024 team — that has its eyes on No. 4 in a row.

And at that point . . . this is no longer a Team Europe streak. This is European domination.

Stacy Lewis knew what it meant. She knew how hard her team had worked, how amazing their start was, how they hung in there on foreign soil to fight for a chance at the Solheim Cup.

But when Carlota Ciganda's putt against Lewis' ace in the hole, 2021 KPMG Women's PGA Champion Nelly Korda, dropped on No. 17 at Finca Cortesin, the U.S. Captain resigned herself to the reality in front of her.

It'd be a tie with Europe. The Americans needed a win.

While that loss likely still stings with a competitor like Lewis, there's renewed energy to finally put a halt to Europe's Solheim Cup successes. It starts, fittingly, in one of the most patriotic parts of the country near Washington D.C., where Lewis' U.S. squad will look to buck the trend.

Much like Pettersen's European Team, Lewis returns a majority of her own squad. Korda, Thompson, Vu, Zhang, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang, Andrea Lee and Jennifer Kupcho are back for the showdown at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Rookies Lauren Coughlin and Sarah Schmelzel have had standout seasons and Alison Lee rounds out the U.S. Team with some experience, too.

Korda's 2024 campaign has been other-worldly, and you can bet she'll bring that talent to all her matches. Thompson gets fired up like no one else for a Solheim Cup and brings a much-needed veteran presence. Khang is built for team matches . . . just see her team-leading point total as a Captain's Pick last year. Vu, Zhang and Corpuz have the talent to take over matches. Alison Lee and Andrea Lee know a clutch putt when they see one. Ewing, Coughlin, Schmelzel are bulldogs that any team would relish having. Kupcho's pressure performance record speaks for itself.

The team has all these ingredients that can produce a much-needed U.S. victory. So what's stopped the Americans from doing so? Performance. Korda only had two points in 2023. Zhang and Kupcho mustered a total point between them. Lilia Vu another single point outing. These are the anchor players of the U.S. Team, and without them, the American ship Lewis captains loses its way.

One golf fan's prediction? I think the American stars show up. Korda is looking to tie a bow on her standout season. What better way than four points? Thompson loves this event and, given it might be her last go as a player, you can bet she'll show up.

The question is . . . will it be enough?

Another great part about the Solheim Cup is the amount of live coverage golf fans will get this upcoming weekend.

Golf Channel and NBC have the call, and here's the schedule you can add to your calendar (all times Eastern; thank us later):

Opening Ceremony, 4-6 p.m., Golf Channel

Day 1 matches, 7 a.m.-6 p.m., Golf Channel

Day 2 matches, 7 a.m.-3 p.m., Golf Channel; 3-6 p.m., NBC & Peacock

Day 3 matches, 8:45 a.m.-12 p.m., Golf Channel; 12-3 p.m., NBC & Peacock

Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, located in Gainesville, Virginia, is no stranger to hosting team events: it hosted the first four iterations of the Presidents Cup. Perhaps a good omen for the Americans, since the course has only seen U.S. victories . . . the Solheim Cup is a cut-glass Irish Waterford Crystal, designed in 1990 by one of Waterford's top designers, Billy Briggs. It weighs 20 pounds, is 19 inches tall, including the 8-inch-wide mahogany base, and is four inches wide at the top . . . the event gets its name from Swedish-American club designer Karsten Solheim, the founder of Ping Golf, who was influential in the creation of the matches . . . Swede Anna Nordqvist has played on every European Solheim Cup Team since 2009 . . . Europe's Laura Davies has the most points in Solheim Cup history with 25; the active player who's next closest? Nortdqvist with 16.5 points . . . Lexi Thompson could crack the all-time U.S. Team points top 5; she's currently at 12.5 career points and needs 1.5 points to pass Beth Daniel . . . the record for most matches played in will be hard to top on both sides: Cristie Kerr played in 38 career matches for the U.S., while Davies played in 46 for Team Europe . . . keep an eye on the 9th through 13th holes at Robert Trent Jones: two par 3s with trouble lurking, short par 4s and a gettable par 5 make this an exciting stretch where a lot of matches could turn . . . or where a Solheim Cup may be won!